GIVING OUT OF HER POVERTY

Image result for CLIP ART OF AN OFFERING PLATE    Jesus has just finished being bombarded with questions to trap Him by the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees.  He has been teaching in the Temple and has amazed many, even the skeptics, of His authority in His teaching.  He is now seated opposite the area where the offerings for the Temple treasury are placed.  Mark 12 records that He watches...observes those giving their offerings.  He notes that the rich throw in copious amounts of money.  I wonder does their dress, their demeanor, or the way the money is thrown into the treasury suggest their financial status?  By contrast, a "poor widow" throws in her two copper coins.  Mark denotes that the coins were worth only a fraction of a penny.  Obviously, her clothing may have spoken volumes.  The Greek language uses the word beggar for poor.  (Recall that widows were destitute without a husband and were left to manage as best as they could survive without a family. Many may have returned to the streets to beg.) 

Jesus pulled His disciples aside and spoke His observation to them:  "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on."  Mark 12:43-44.

I am reminded:  Jesus knows the spirit in which I am giving my offerings. I find the widow's giving challenging to my heart and mind in that she put in everything...all she had to live on.  This is more about her attitude of what she has then her giving.  He also knows the amount that I give.  He has seen whether I have given at least the tithe, or have I given what  is left.  More questions arise:  Have I given to honor Him or to show others?  Have I given Him my heart to be a Christ follower?  Have I been faithfully accountable with what He has entrusted me?  Who is my TRUST?  Matthew 6:19-21 comes to my mind, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Ever learning.  Still in process.  #IHAVETHREESONS. 

 

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